No headway: Police form 3 spl teams to probe dog carrying infant's head

Police, probing as to whether this was an unwanted child born out of illicit relationship or a human sacrifice, are poring over the data of the recent childbirths to identify the newborn's family to crack the case of the stray canine carrying head of a newborn baby near Sahara States residential colony.

Hyderabad: Three special police teams have been formed to solve the case of stray dog carrying a new-born baby's severed head, said a senior police officer who is privy to the investigation. The shocking incident was reported on Sunday near Sahara States, Vanasthalipuram. The officer said that they were in the process of establishing the identity of the newborn.

We are trying to account for the child through the birth records. We are also in the process of recovering the rest of the mortal remains to find out whether the child's death was natural or not. The post-mortem examination will help ascertain it besides establishing whether the child's head got severed before death or after death, the officer added.

According to police, the dog could have dug out the child's head which could have been buried by the family. The baby could have born out of wedlock to a minor girl. The family might not have wanted anyone find out about the baby so they might have killed the baby and buried in the vacant lands near Sahara States.

While the police are yet to make any headway in the case, probe angles include human sacrifice. The search for the missing torso of the baby entered the second day without any luck till evening. Sniffer dogs were pressed into service for the search.

Residents of the Sahara States were appalled to witness the tragic scene of a newborn being carried by a street dog. As they chased the canine, it dropped the head and ran away. A case was registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 318 (concealment of birth by secret disposal of the body) and the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) section 174 (unnatural death).

Karthik, a shopkeeper at Sahara States, was among the first to spot the infant's head. "I had been at my general store near Sahara, selling milk packets to a customer. It was then that I saw the street dog moving around with a human head in its jaws. On a closer look, I was shocked to see that it was a newborn baby's head.. immediately I ran after the dog. But on seeing me, the dog ran afar and dropped the baby's head in the bushes at Sahara premises. I informed the locals and police about the incident," Karthik told the media.